Kisha & Don
Photography Matt Ashton
Kisha and Don spent nearly a year planning their perfect wedding but nature had other plans, with bushfires ravaging across Australia and a pandemic they were forced to abandon all their plans and still had the best day ever!
“We didn’t let the bushfires or coronavirus stop us from getting married in 2020”
In March 2020, Kisha and Don couldn’t wait for their friends and family from the US to fly in for their beachside wedding weekend. “We’d already been through some challenges — the original venue we chose on the NSW South Coast was badly damaged in the bushfires, so we found a new location north of Sydney at Seal Rocks. We replanned everything in three months, booking fun activities for our guests like surf lessons and bowls at the local RSL. We thought of every little detail, from custom cocktails, to welcome baskets for our guests,” Kisha said.
With less than a month to go before the wedding, the Australian government closed the borders due to COVID-19, and Kisha and Don decided to postpone their wedding day to 2021. However, after a few more weeks, they started to question the decision to wait, and replanned again. “This time, it would just be the two of us on July 4, three months later than our original date. We had just a few weeks to nail down the details, and in the end we had an even better day than we could have imagined.”
Although their elopement was not what they had originally planned, the day turned into a more intimate and romantic day that was all about the two of them and celebrating their love. They made plans for friends and family to still be involved in the day thanks to a little technology. “We were so glad we didn’t let the uncertainty in the world stop us from getting married, and we can’t wait to celebrate in person with our loved ones when the time is right.”
Kisha and Don share their top 5 pieces of advice they learnt if you are planning or thinking of eloping now!
Pick a place that is meaningful to you!
We chose to get married in the beautiful Murramarang National Park, not far from where the bushfires had come through just months before. To us, it was beautiful and symbolic. The burnt trees represented the challenges and hardships we lived through this year, while the green shoots represented resilience and growth.
We stayed in a holiday cabin on the beach with views of the ocean, and worked closely with the venue and our vendors to organise the details.
2. Incorporate your loved ones with technology (or in person if you can!)
I “got ready” with my best friends in the US, who watched me get glam with a local makeup artist and hair stylist; our parents and siblings got dressed for the occasion and watched our wedding ceremony via Zoom with decorations in their living room; and our closest friends and family members shared their congratulations and advice ahead of time through a video montage via tribute.co. Don and I watched it together after we got married.
Our Zoom wedding ceremony, projected on my parent’s television in the US. The audio wasn’t great, but our videographer shared the ceremony recording with us the next day!
Our families got all got dressed up and decorated their homes. It was midnight for them in the US!
3. Don’t forget the special touches!
Just because you aren’t having a typical wedding, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the fun frills! I ordered custom vow books and menus from etsy, a personalized bridal robe from @homebodii, and we used abalone shells we’d collected from the beach for decoration. We bought a polaroid camera and film from eBay to capture candid shots throughout the weekend. We also worked with a local catering company to design an eight-course tasting menu paired with wines we selected and ordered ahead of time. I still ordered flowers, but was able to cut down a lot here as we only needed my bouquet, Don’s button hole, and flowers for the wedding arch.
I went with Australian native flowers as I love how unique and bright they are. Plus, they last for so long!
4. Invest in photography and videography
Hire a photographer and videographer you trust so you can capture all the special moments and share them with your loved ones who can’t be there.
We stuck with our original photographer @mattashton_photo who was incredibly flexible and understanding with us through all of the changes. He also recommended we hire a videographer (@benjaminrainford), something we were not originally planning to do, but it ended up being invaluable! Matt and Ben captured all the moments of our day, doubled up as our legal witnesses, and filled the standard bridesmaid duties of adjusting my train and holding my flowers. They were total legends.
Since it was just the two of us, we had plenty of time to take photos in all of our favourite spots, without rushing to get back to our guests. Matt and Ben were the perfect sidekicks for the day — we just did our thing and they captured it all in the most natural and fun way possible.
5. Write your own vows
We worked with a local celebrant that a friend recommended to design a short and simple ceremony that centred around our handwritten vows. Since we didn’t have an audience, we were able to weave in several inside jokes and meaningful stories that I know we will both remember forever. My vows compared our future marriage to a road trip we took in the Aussie Outback - a fun adventure with some challenges we’d get through together. Don vowed to let me have my cake and eat it too.
credit to
Photographer: @mattashton_photo
Videographer: @benjaminrainford
Makeup: @teneillesbeauty
Hair: @mikaelaquealey
Flowers: @joycies_flowers
Accomodation: @murramarang_resort
Dress: @abbeybridal (Maggie Sottero) #MaggieBride
Veil: @affordableb
Suit: @hickeyfreeman
Private Chef: @citruscateringnsw
Polaroid camera & film: @fujiinstaxaus via @ebay
Bridal Robe: @homebodii
Groom’s shoes: @louboutinworld
Rings: @australiandiamondbrokers
Bracelet: @varoujanjewellers
Video Montage: @wetribute
Custom Menus and Vow Books: @rabbitlovesgraphics via @etsy
Wine: Dan Murphy’s and The Oak Barrel
